Welcome to the Piano World Piano ForumsOver 2 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers
(it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

jazzwee, the deal is: WHEREAS you improved significantly (once again) .. .. your lines are more to the point and rhey're going somewhere. your LH comping is supportive of your right hand AND your're playing right into the time. so you're making it easier for your bass player and drummer to come together with you. and WHEREAS you posted for all to hear , well it's RESOLVED that you should have feedback!

jazzwee, the deal is: WHEREAS you improved significantly (once again) .. .. your lines are more to the point and rhey're going somewhere. your LH comping is supportive of your right hand AND your're playing right into the time. so you're making it easier for your bass player and drummer to come together with you. and WHEREAS you posted for all to hear , well it's RESOLVED that you should have feedback!

very nice playing ... i smiled while listening

I do appreciate the more specific comments. Thanks for that. My point to posting is always to create a practice "task" list (in case someone thinks I'm seeking compliments). I read the subtext in there too and do understand where I need to make more progress. But I do feel like some change is happening and thanks for noticing.

That's a variation of the lesson factor..it's normal to play worse at a lesson than after a coupla schnopps alone with your cat at home..same with recording. Most recording sessions have a trajectory so that you will hit your good peak if you give it some time..that stuff about the first take never took for me..

Once when I was a wee (haha) lad of 16, Lennie Tristano did this to me at a lesson - he said "ok, you're in Yankee Stadium, and there are 70,000 screaming fans, and you got ONE chorus to say everything...GO!"

I flubbed it pretty good, then he said "that was ok. But you can't say to the crowd "You shoudda heard me yesterday.."

HAHAHA! Great story! I should tell myself that on the first take. Then by the second take, the pressure is off.

Usually, when I record for this forum, I do only one take (as I did here). Then I presume it's the worst I can do. Oddly enough, often it's not bad.

Interesting how it applies to jazz because it does take awhile to get the stuff happening in our brains. To have solos that have a direction requires a lot of concentration. And at least for me, I can't predict how it will go. Maybe after playing certain tunes for awhile, one has some standard starting points and that triggers some direction.

At a gig, I'm often influenced by the one that did the solo right before me. Lately, I find that it's good to pull back for awhile, play some block chords and not do much on the first chorus and it seems to take away the stress. I did that on an Inner Urge recording I posted earlier.

If I listen to Brad Mehldau, it sounds like he has a formula. First chorus -- alter the melody slightly, then gradually head out to a separate direction from the melody, then do a massive amount of sixteenths, then last chorus simplify again. A bit structured but it must at least generate some consistency for him.

Once when I was a wee (haha) lad of 16, Lennie Tristano did this to me at a lesson - he said "ok, you're in Yankee Stadium, and there are 70,000 screaming fans, and you got ONE chorus to say everything...GO!"

I flubbed it pretty good, then he said "that was ok. But you can't say to the crowd "You shoudda heard me yesterday.."

He was the greatest)

DF

Which is more scary though - playing in front of 70000 or playing in front of just Lennie Tristano?I played with some great players and it freaked me out more than any concert ever did.

It seems that great players are always on their game but I expect they have good days and bad days like the rest of us. Probably just their bad days are still amazingly good.

What I play at a gig and in a lesson is radically different. When I play at a gig, I close my eyes and just try to enjoy the music. Sometimes that leads to utter crap, sometimes some creative stuff, but I just play what FEELS good, not what meets some standard such as "did I use a creative scale over that V-I." Then, in a lesson, I feel like I've got to try to play "proper jazz," meaning that I need to use some scale or technique that we're working on. It's sooo different. I don't think this is a problem because it's good to work on stuff in lessons, which hopefully makes it way into gig playing. I do learn things that come out as feeling good. What I need to do is record something at a gig and let my teacher hear it, but unlike jazzwee, who seems to record his every note, I have yet to record a gig.

I like to record gigs so then I get to see the problems but only after. During the gig, I'm not thinking of what I'm playing either. I can't anyway because things are just so fluid. My rhythm section will change things around and I've got to react to the moment.

I figure though that my failings at a gig show what isn't in the subconscious. For example, if I start to rush, often it means I'm distracted and then I try to figure out what the distraction is.

One example is that sometimes the rhythm section will make the time so unclear. Back in the old days, I would force myself in an "declare" my position in the form. Now I just hold back. One time, the bass player did Dolphin Dance in Latin and I just STOPPED playing for the whole chorus. And told them to swing it.

I'm glad I'm more relaxed about it now. Watching Wayne Shorter really gives me a good sense of that. Often he will not play anything for many bars. He doesn't just play for the sake of playing. I realize now that space doesn't hurt and if it gives time to settle the nerves and clarify something about one is playing, then it's better than blindly playing.

I hope you guys post your music too. This is not about me, but about sharing what's going on in our musical journey.

BTW - this was an amazing gig. I got offers to do more gigs and these fans are coming back every month. So they're having good time. Place was packed. Standing room only and reservations for most spots. Last year, Feb 14 was empty (no band). So the owner knows we are the draw. Kinda nice. As a musician it's a good feeling to get a responsive crowd. They're not judging if our solos are perfect but just to the overall feel. But these are real jazz fans. It was advertised specifically as jazz.

It starts out very simple, then gets a little harder. It's a basic scale vs LH exercise I wrote for a beginner student of mine, combining a be-bop scale with basic LH chords. Of course you guys should do it in all the keys . . and any permutations you desire. Get it here

Saw Brian Blade's Fellowship band last night. Fantastic show; they are one intense band. The keyboard player, John Cowherd, is an interesting fellow. He composes half of the group's tunes and plays with a lot of diverse groups, including Rosanne Cash. He doesn't play a lot of notes, odd harmonies, or try to show amazing chops. Plays very sparingly, yet he keeps you riveted.

Brian Blade is probably best known as the drummer for Wayne Shorter's current band. Personally, I find that group almost unlistenable (don't mean to offend those on here who are fans), but Brian Blade's drumming is stupendous in this group. As interesting and creative a drummer as I've ever hear.